I apologise for not putting a blog up since the 23rd of March 2017, but holidays and life do sometimes get in the way of good intentions.

Wednesday Meeting is next week (the 16th May) at the Writer’s Rendezvous Café! See you then! Also, a quick reminder to all that Dayboro Day is on the 25th May.

We look forward to hearing from Jane about the Sandcliffe conference. Jane has posted up a teaser on our facebook page.

Our previous Writer in Residence, M, gave an incredibly interesting talk onHuman Behaviour for writers: Part 1: duality & convincer. This of course, lead to many questions about the sociopathy and psychopathy that some people display. The talk will be posted at the end of this blog. Thank you M for the most interesting talk and for the references provided to me via email. If people want to read further into this, M has also indicated his eagerness to continue the conversation. If you wish to contact him, please do so through the Writer’s Rendezvous contact us page.

We have had some feedback from a couple of people relating to the Writer’s Rendezvous contact us page which Vicki has sent around. If anyone is interested or has feedback, please let Vicki know.

Our writer in residence this month, Peta, will be talking about Project Management for Creatives. This will be a no homework piece because you will be all too busy creating your own little project to manage your writing! If you have any advance questions please don’t hesitate to send them through.

Please don’t forget to read the work submitted for March and April. Make comments in the blog section that Vicki has posted. We are hoping for some great feedback! This is open to everyone.

RemindersOur homework task is now under the “Current Task” on our website. Email Vicki with your contributions. Constructive criticism is welcome regarding the homework task or if you wish for someone to read their homework out at our next meeting, please make a comment. Comments can be created by clicking on the brown “Comments” url at the top of the blog. The comments cannot be made in the posted section. I can’t wait to read your homework. Please leave feedback in the comments section on the work. Homework to be submitted by 9am on Wednesday morning the 16th May so it gives Vicki time to put it on the website and for people to read it.

Here are some feedback guidelines: • You are asked to focus on the writing for the homework piece. Feedback for other tasks should be given to the author personally.• If you think an aspect of the writing works well, try to analyse why, but also look for its faults. Usually there will be some.• If you think an aspect of the writing doesn’t work, again, analyse why. Make sure you look for the parts that might be working better in the piece. Almost always there will be positive things to focus on as well.• Try to go beyond ‘Oh, I liked that, but I didn’t like that.’• Always comment on the idea and its implementation, not on the surmised personality of the writer.• Bear in mind that, often, you will be passing comment on a ‘work-in-progress’, a piece of writing that is not finished. Try to assess where it might go and what tactics might be used in its development.• Always try to show evidence for whatever claims you make. Evidence, in this instance, is the part of the writing you are talking about. Point out the use of language you are focused on so that the writer knows which part you mean.• Rather than being imperious in your comments, explain what you mean, point out the evidence – but also freely suggest there may be other opinions. This can be done with little nudging queries: ‘I wonder if anyone else thinks this?’• Think about how well the writing is geared to its intended readership.

Receiving feedback

Here are some guidelines: • When assessing comments you may wish to rewrite the idea completely. Don’t rush into this.• You may wish to tweak your story a little, rewrite completely or just leave it as it is. Any of these options is possible. There is no correct way of responding to critical comments. You may choose to accept some comments and reject others. Remember: you are the final arbiter; you are the writer.• If you are lucky and receive more than one lot of feedback, pay special attention to areas where there seems to be a consensus, even though it might be an opinion with which you strongly disagree. Ask yourself: ‘Have I ever had doubts about this before I got these comments?’ Be honest with yourself. If the answer is ‘Yes’, then the area almost certainly needs attention – even if it happens to be your favourite section.• Ask yourself whether the piece under discussion is going to be developed any further. If so, how?• If it isn’t going to be developed, what can be salvaged from it? You might wish to use a character, a metaphor, a line of dialogue. It’s important to realise that even if you eventually abandon an idea, there may be some small part of that idea – sometimes just an image, a line or even a phrase– that you can use later, in another piece.• Remember: your fellow writers are commenting on a piece of work at a particular stage in its development, not on a finished article, and they are certainly not commenting on you personally.